PG&E Honored For Sustained Employer Support Of National Guard And Reserve Service

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) was recognized today for its sustained employer support of National Guard and Reserve service by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense...

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) was recognized today for its sustained employer support of National Guard and Reserve service by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense office. The ESGR presented PG&E with the Extraordinary Employer Support Award during a ceremony at the company's Diablo Canyon Power Plant in recognition of the plant's large contingent of veteran employees.

"Ever since World War I, PG&E has had programs to hire and train veterans and help them develop in their careers. It's simply the right thing to do, and over the years veterans consistently have been key contributors in better serving our customers. We're very proud to be acknowledged by the ESGR for supporting our National Guard and Reserve employees," said PG&E Corporation Chairman and CEO Tony Earley.

"The discipline, dedication and passion shown by veterans have played a big role in operating our Diablo Canyon Power Plant. It's an honor to have the ESGR present PG&E the Extraordinary Employer Support Award at Diablo Canyon. We appreciate having this acknowledgement of those who have dedicated and sacrificed so much and are now serving our 16 million customers," said Senior Vice President of Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer Ed Halpin, who was also a U.S. Navy submarine officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

PG&E introduced the " 1,000 Careers Project" last year whose goal is to hire 1,000 veterans into PG&E jobs over the next eight years. Last year, PG&E hired 223 veterans and through Sept. 30, the company is more than a third of the way to its objective. The company is on pace to achieve the 1,000 veterans hired standard in five years.

A program that has played a major role in helping PG&E attain this target is the PowerPathway™ program. Over the last three years, 255 of the 443 graduates (58 percent) are veterans with 75 percent of them (190) having been hired by PG&E and within the utility industry.

The PowerPathway training network is comprised of community college, community organization, workforce investment board, university and educational partners who collaborate with PG&E to provide training in response to California's growing energy workforce needs.